August 2012

CROON Audio’s Original Sound System Looks Great, Promises to Sound Just as Good

I went into the office today after a few weeks of vacation. While returning email I decided to listen to some tunes. My set up at work looks like this- I have an excellent Altec Lansing Speaker that Judie gave me for Hanukkah a few years ago connected to an Airport Express which, in turn, is plugged into the wireless ethernet post that comes into my study. It was that Airport Express that provided WiFi in that part of the building. More than that, however, it also takes the standard, docking stereo and turns it into an Airplay-enabled speaker. I…

Editorials, News

The Final #NBCFail – Cutting Rock Legends in Favor of Supermodels, Pop Trash and an Awful New Show

Imagine you have a few hours of pre-recorded video in hand, featuring all manner of showmanship and including some mid-level pop stars, a bizarrely over-long live photo-montage by non-performers, and some of the great legends of music. Which would you cut from the Prime Time show? Of course! Naturally you cut the legends … well, most of them. Some you make fans wait over an hour until AFTER airing an abysmal new pilot before you let them see the performance. But are we really so surprised that this is how NBC would handle the Olympic closing ceremonies? I mean, we…

Outdoors, Travel

The Magnificent Grand Canyon

When you drive through the pine forests leading up to the Grand Canyon’s rim, no one would fault you for thinking that what you are about to see couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. But when you get to the rim, when you have your first chance to look over and out … the view is simply mind-boggling. How big is the Grand Canyon? The park covers 1,218,375.54 acres, which is about 1,904 square miles. If you measure it in river miles, following the course of the Colorado River at the canyon’s bottom, you’d call it 277 miles long. The…

News

Grove Makes Your Moleskine Pop

I’ll be flat-out honest about this: I like the idea of Moleskine notebooks, but I’ve never used one. Having a tried and true methodology for capturing information that becomes part of a personal tradition and eventually results in a shelf full of old notebooks representing one’s history over a number of years is so old school and so cool at the same time. (Well, that’s my old-fashioned opinion, anyway.) But the darn things are boring looking. I mean, plain black. No pizzazz. No pop. Grove, an iPhone and iPad accessory maker based in Portland, Oregon, has a solution for that….

Health and Fitness

Want to Get Healthy? There’s an App for That …

Yesterday we brought word of our new Gear Diary Health and Fitness Series. Withings must have been paying attention because they just released their new… and free… health and fitness app. As the release notes, Withings’ newest mobile application further simplifies the way any user can monitor and improve his or her weight, physical activity, heart and sleep quality. This free application is designed to be the ultimate health and wellness application that enables anybody to store, access and manage their weight, physical activity, heart and sleep data on a single user-friendly dashboard. I use a Withings blood pressure cuff…

Health and Fitness, News

Finally Some (Mostly) Good News About Kids’ Health

When you look at the news about the health of our kids, there has been little good news over the last couple of decades: obesity, lack of activity, increased food allergies, diabetes, and on and on. So when we DO get even somewhat good news it is exciting. Here is what is getting folks going: A big government study shows that in the past decade, the proportion of children who have high cholesterol has fallen. The results are surprising, given that the childhood obesity rate didn’t budge. How can that be? Some experts think that while most kids may not…

Reviews

How Nokia Wants to Create the Perfect Smartphone for Women (and Everyone Else!)

Several years ago, I owned the worst phone in the world, the Samsung Epix. Seriously, it was an evil, possessed phone. After sending one Epix after another back to AT&T because of all the issues, they finally relented and let me exchange it for a different phone. I ended up with a Nokia E71x, and while the AT&T “adjustments” to the software were less than welcome, I adored the hardware. Nokia may have had their ups and downs, but they know how to make an amazing phone. Nokia has now thrown their support behind Windows Phone, and I had an…

Editorials

For the Olympics, Good Ratings Encourage Poor Coverage

With each passing day my frustration with the Olympic coverage available to me grew, and as the Olympics close I wanted to express the feelings that will linger. Carly already wrote about how NBC is punishing viewers of regular broadcast TV, and also about how the focus on big-corporate sponsorship is hurting athletes in smaller sports who don’t use the big name gear. I was drawn to several of the comments on Carly’s posts, talking about cord-cutting, using apps, and a general dissatisfaction with the quality and quantity of broadcasts. Let me add my voice to the chorus – as…

News

Say NO to Vertical Videos

As someone who spends his life shooting video, it always pains me to have a family member show me a video they’ve shot on their phone in portrait. They simply don’t understand, and their excuse is always that “I always hold my phone like that!”. You’re holding it wrong. Thankfully we now have this excellent instructional video on why Vertical Video Syndrome needs to be cured. [via ZAGG]

Health and Fitness

Introducing “Gear Diary Health And Fitness Tips”

You may have noticed over the last year or so that we have sprinkled an increasing number of fitness related posts and tips throughout Gear Diary. All of us have an interest and have taken active steps toward becoming healthier, and we want to share more of these experiences with our readers. Too often, people say it is too expensive or complicated to get, and stay, healthy. The truth is, if you know where to shop, what steps to take, and what ingredients to keep on hand it really isn’t. In fact, it is not only easy, but eating and…

Reviews

Here I Go Again: An iPad User Tries a Google Nexus 7

A short time ago I tried swapping my iPhone for a Windows Phone 7. If you read my posts on the subject, then you know I learned a lot of interesting things, good and bad, about the platform. This time I’m focused on my tablet. I’m back to try one of the most heavily discussed gadgets this year, the Google Nexus 7. A Little Perspective… I have always loved playing with new gadgets. That’s why I was interested in the Nexus 7. But understand this: I come into this as a die-hard iPad user. I have been one ever since…

Outdoors, Travel

Marvelous Mesa Verde!

Imagine for a moment that you are a cowhand, and that you have been riding in the desert heat for some time in search of missing cattle. Across from the Mesa you are riding upon, you happen to look at the wall of the cliffs below the mesa opposite you. Your mind drifts for a moment, and you find yourself studying the composition of the opposite mesa’s cliffs; you find yourself paying attention to the layers of clay, limestone, sandstone, shale, and other geologic materials that make up of all the cliff-patterns and colors that you are used to seeing…

Game Diary, Gear Bits

You Should REALLY Be Watching Wil Wheaton’s ‘TableTop’ Series!

Yesterday afternoon I had some time before taking Chris to his piano lesson, and I fired up the latest edition of Wil Wheaton’s TableTop, this week featuring the game ‘Say Anything’ (Amazon link). Soon I had both boys pulling up chairs and thoroughly enjoying watch someone else play a board game. Here is the basis of the show: My ulterior motive with Tabletop is to show by example how much fun it is to play boardgames. I want to show that Gamers aren’t all a bunch of weirdoes who can’t make eye contact when they talk to you, and that…

Vehicles & Gear

Stop-start Technology Making Its Way to American-Market Vehicles

Imagine this: You pull up to a stop light in rush-hour traffic and BAM – your engine stops. For many drivers this is a huge fear, but for others, this is the new normal. Regarding the latter, this is the new stop-start technology that is finding its way into new vehicles. This technology has been in vehicles overseas and is now working its way into vehicles sold in North America. “Engine stop-start isn’t a brand new technology, but the latest systems benefit from significant advances made in the last few years,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s Director of Automotive Engineering and…

Gear Bits, Yum Log

Spray Your Way to Umami Today

If you’re any sort of foodie, you’re probably familiar with the concept of “umami.” Along with sweet, sour, bitter and Salty, umami is the fifth taste which humans can discern in their food. Great food has an interplay between several of these tastes. Think peanut butter pretzels or salted caramel ice cream. Just typing those words kicks off my Pavlovian response. Umami translates roughly from Japanese into English as “pleasant savory taste.” It is described as kind of a cross between brothy and meaty, and probably the best way to evoke it is to think of the slightly funky flavor…

News

USBFever Releases Universal USB Hub and Card Reader for iPad & Galaxy Tabs!

You know, I wonder what they put in their coffee or beverage of choice over at USBFever, because it never ceases to amaze me the constellation of gizmos that pop up in their online offerings. Take for example USBFever’s latest item, the Universal USB Hub and Card Reader for Apple iPad / Galaxy Tabs. USBFever claims that this USB hub will support 90% of the tablets out there, but what exactly does this Universal USB hub do? Does it slice and dice or even julienne? No, but this hub is getting darned close with its three primary functions: – With…

Health and Fitness

The Narrative of the Olympics Is What the Media Wants It to Be

The fascinating part of the Olympics to me isn’t just how badly NBC manages to screw everyone. It isn’t even the athletic achievements. What really catches my attention is the way certain stories are presented. We get fed storylines by the media to make us feel sympathetic towards one athlete, or disdainful towards another. It’s amazing how perspective on someone’s story makes a huge difference. Let’s look at the story of athlete A. There were major expectations placed on this athlete in Beijing, and she sadly failed to deliver. In the four years since, she’s suffered some ups and downs,…

Gear Bits, News

RIP Willy Wonka Director Mel Stuart

One of my favorite movies of all time is the classic 1971 feature Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Today we learned that the director Mel Stuart has died at age 83. Mel Stuart, the director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has died aged 83. His family said he died at his Beverly Hills home after suffering from cancer. Beginning his career mainly directing documentaries, the 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book was Stuart’s second feature film. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1965 for his documentary, Four Days in November, about the assassination of John F…

Gear Bits, News

xkcd Puts Names to What Our Cultural Memory Will Forget Each Year

Today’s comic from xkcd really struck me – even more than their normally awesome work – because it looks at something I deal with on a seemingly daily basis: cultural memory. My wife and I were born in the mid-60s, so I remember watching Watergate, seeing Jaws and Star Wars in theaters, gas lines, and on and on. Some things like watching Bullitt this week and seeing rotary phones and the utter un-connectedness really stood out with my kids, whereas stuff like music and other pop culture items have filtered somewhat through time. Myy wife works with many young adults…

News

Harman Kardon Bluetooth Wireless Over-Ear Headphones Review

Harman Kardon recently released their first line of headphones. The company has a long history of offering quality audio components and has now taken their experience and applied it to the burgeoning headphone market. As we recently brought word, their headphone line runs from in-ear to on-ear to over-ear styles. They were kind enough to send a pair of their BT Bluetooth over-ear headphones for review. Let’s take a look. As we note in the video review, the packaging is impressive. The company clearly gave a great deal of thought to the entire experience when someone purchases the headphones and…

Gear Bits, News

Court Documents Bring to Light Dismal Samsung Tablet Sales Numbers

For nearly two years I have been like a broken record: I simply never believed the numbers Samsung was supposedly selling in terms of tablets. Worse still, having put out a single unofficial number before switching to ‘percent improvement in shipments’, groups like the IDC and Gartner grabbed the initial number and then just applied the percent increase. This played out again last week in the numbers reported by the IDC showing that Samsung held the #2 tablet slot with 9.6% market share with ~2.4 million units sold. I like the Samsung tablets pretty well and they have created a…

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